1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns hair cosmetic compositions and more specifically such compositions containing a water-insoluble fine particulate polymer, having excellent style-forming or retaining performance of hair and further giving a favorable feeling to touch to the hair.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hair style is one of most important factors in beauty cares, and various kinds of beauty treatments have been prevailed for making the style. For instance, hair may be wound and dried around curlers, or treated by a drier and brushes to make a style. In such hair cares, it is a usual practice that hair cosmetics such as set lotions, blowing agents, hair sprays and the like are used for the purpose of facilitating a style making or retaining the thus prepared hair style. Hair cosmetic compositions, therefore, are incorporated with polymers which are soluble in water or in organic solvents such as alcohols. Examples of such polymers are polyvinyl pyrrolidone, vinyl pyrrolidone/vinyl acetate copolymer, vinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate/alkylamino acrylate copolymer, methylvinyl ether/maleic anhydride copolymer, vinylacetate/chrotonic acid copolymer, copolymer of acrylic or methacrylic acid and acrylic or methacrylic acid esters. Hair styles have been formed or retained by the polymers spread or applied by way of aerosol to the hair.
However, conventional hair cosmetic compositions have disadvantages in that they necessitate a great amount of polymer materials to be deposited on the hair in order to retain the hair style. In addition, since the polymer materials deposited on the hair have a surface tension higher than the critical surface tension of the hair, they are deposited in the island-like small lumps on the hair, which leads to the stiff feeling of the hair and insufficient combing performance.
Hair rinses, hair treatment agents, etc. have been used after contaminations on the hair are removed by a shampoo in order to eliminate the unfavorable driness of the hair, to impart a soft touch to the hair and to obtain a smooth combing. However, since they contain cationic surface active agents or oily ingredients, although they can improve the softness and combing property of the hair, they are accompanied by drawbacks in that the hair becomes sticky and hair styles are difficult to be made or retained, thus improvement has been demanded therefor.